Editing apprentice scheme launched by The Garden with C4

News

Staff Reporter

23 July 2012

The Garden, the indie behind 24 Hours in A&E, is launching a new apprenticeship scheme for six trainee editors.

Supported by Channel 4, the scheme, which is being called Cut Your Teeth, will be run by film editor Rupert Houseman and The Garden’s creative director Jonathan Smith, who are now inviting applications.

The third series of 24 Hours in A&E has been commissioned by Channel 4 and has already been filmed at King’s College Hospital. Post-production begins in mid-August and is due to be completed at Christmas.

The Garden will employ six assistant editors. Three will have recently left college and have basic Avid skills. The remainder will work as junior editors. They will have more experience and have some work to show but will be yet to establish themselves in the industry.

“We are delighted to be pioneering a scheme that will help new talent,” says Smith. “We are so proud of 24 Hours in A&E and we believe that that the task of telling the challenging stories that unfold in a busy emergency department, combined with the technical demands of using the fixed camera rig, make it a perfect series to train on.

“We have also be looking for a way for some time to demonstrate our appreciation of documentary editors and so when Rupert came to us with this way of making a substantial commitment to training new talent, it seemed a perfect fit. From our experience of making The Family, One Born Every Minute and now 24 Hours in A&E, Nick Curwin and Magnus Temple and I have come to depend more and more on a band of exceptional editors.

“The fact that we are applying this to our flagship production shows how seriously we’re taking it. But it’s also very good for 24 Hours in A&E because it will benefit from the experience and talent of three of the best editors in the business who will supervise their apprentices and the cutting of every film.”

Houseman and film editors Sam Santana and Tom Dixon-Spain will each run a team of a first and a second assistant. They will oversee two cutting rooms at a time, with each room editing an episode of the series. All three editors have worked on 24 Hours in A&E before.

Houseman, who developed the training scheme, says, “Over the last couple of years I’ve been pushing to get assistant editors back into documentaries. As an industry we need to create a space to give the next generation some hands-on experience and this assistant scheme will do just that. It’s massively exciting and I’m hugely grateful to both the Garden and to Channel 4 for backing the idea so completely.”

As part of its commitment to training, Channel 4 is supporting the scheme with a bursary.

Channel 4 commissioning editor Mark Raphael adds, “For junior editors to work on such an important brand, making films that will be seen by four million people each week, is a fantastic opportunity. When The Garden and Rupert approached us, I was really keen to get involved. I can’t think of a better way to demonstrate our commitment to developing new talent.”

Series three of 24 Hours in A&E will be executive produced by Smith and Nick Curwin. If the editors apprenticeship scheme works well, The Garden intends to repeat it on future projects at least once a year.

Candidates should write to The Garden at editing@thegardenproductions.tv